Do you have “a thing”? You know, that quirky activity that no one else in your social circle seems to do, so they always associate it with you? Maybe it’s yoga, or knitting, or perhaps something a little more trendy like axe-throwing or adult colouring books. They’re the sort of things that are incredibly helpful to your friends and family when they need to buy you gifts. For example, I have a friend who went through a gin phase. She became the ‘gin girl’ among her circles, and as a result received so many different bottles as gifts for various holidays and birthdays that she now has more gin than she will ever drink.
Obviously, my “thing” is wine tasting. But instead of receiving more wine than I could ever drink (a. is that possible? and b. I am open to this idea), I now have more wine journals than I know what to do with. Continue reading
Today I am very excited to be sharing one of my favourite wines styles with you. I often forget about ripasso, but today’s bottle has served as a delicious reminder.
Ripasso wines are made in the Veneto region, which is in northeastern Italy between Verona and Venice.
The ripasso process
The first step in making ripasso wines is making a Valpolicella. This table wine is made from three Italian grapes: corvina, rondinella and molinara.
The second step involves another wine called amarone. Amarone is made with the same grapes, however these grapes have been dried in a process called apassimento, whereby they are dried in the heat of the end of the summer, traditionally on straw mats.
Appassimento racks c/o Masi
This apassimento process dries out the water and concentrates the amount of sugar in the grapes, which then yields a higher alcohol content during fermentation. Amarone is the wine created using these dried grapes, and is the crème de la crème of Italian wines. However, these bottles start at $30 and up, so are not always the most affordable choice.
Ripassos (meaning re-passed), on the other hand, are a happy medium between the everyday Valpolicella wines and the higher-end amarones.
Ripasso is made by running Valpolicella wines through the rich amarone skins. This process adds body, texture and rich flavours to the Valpolicella and makes for a consistently beautiful wine.
Breakdown of Valpolicella wines c/o Wine Folly
Mel’s dairy-free lasagna
Last Saturday night I made my special lasagna. It is special because I’ve adapted the recipe over time to meet my husband’s non-dairy needs, i.e. no cow milk products. If I can’t find sheep or buffalo ricotta, I make my own out of tofu. I also replace regular mozzarella with President’s Choice goat mozzarella. It’s pretty darned good, if I do say so myself. The recipe is at the bottom of this post.
Farina Valpolicella Ripasso with Mel’s dairy-free lasagna
This medium ruby red-coloured wine has aromas of cherry, blackberry, raisin (from the amarone skins), cocoa, vanilla, cedar, tobacco and a touch of menthol. On the palate, the first thing I noticed was a juicy, mouthwatering acidity that makes you want to drink more! This wine is medium bodied, dry, and has nicely integrated, subtle tannins. It’s got gorgeous fruit flavours like fresh raspberry, blackberry and black cherry, and is also heavy on the dried fruit (raisin, date and fig) with undertones of chocolate, cigar box and leather. It finishes off with a lovely medium-long black cherry finish.
Ripasso food pairings
A standard rule of thumb is pairing food and wines from the same geographical region, so it would stand to reason that this wine would go perfectly with lasagna (or pizza, or grilled meats, or cheeses, for that matter).
This particular ripasso, although much lighter than the benchmark ripasso, went extremely well with my lasagna. Sometimes goat cheese does funny things with red wines, particularly tannic ones, but the Farina ripasso’s medium body and fruit-forward character, not to mention high acidity, made it a perfect match. Don’t forget, wines with high acidity are great food wines, so this is a great food-friendly candidate that would make a great contribution to dinner parties.
Happy weekend and happy wining!
Mel’s delicious dairy-free lasagna recipe
INGREDIENTS
1 lb of ground Italian sausage meat
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 jars of high-quality tomato sauce
1 tsp basil and oregano
Oven-ready lasagna noodles (I use brown rice noodles so it’s even gluten-free)
1 tsp Italian seasoning (or just oregano, basil, thyme and rosemary)
4 cups of shredded goat mozzarella
1/2 of grated pecorino romano (hard sheep cheese in place of Parmesan)
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Cook sausage in a large skillet over medium heat until nearly browned. Add onion and garlic until cooked (3-5 minutes).
Add pasta sauce, and basil and oregano. Let simmer.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine ricotta and Italian seasoning.
Put a bit of sauce at the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish. Top with 3 noodles. Cover noodles with 1/3 of ricotta cheese, 1 cup of mozzarella and 1 cup of sauce.
Repeat layers two more times.
Add top layer of noodles. Top with remaining sauce and cover with remaining mozzarella. Sprinkle pecorino over mozzarella.
Cover and bake about 45 minutes, or until sauce is bubbling and noodles are tender. Uncover and bake an extra 5 minutes to brown edges.
Remove from oven and let settle for 10-15 minutes before serving.
N.B. I find that the smaller the baking dish, the further the sauce goes. Go with the smallest dish that your lasagna noodles will fit in!
Bon appétit! Let me know how it goes in the comments below!
RELATED UPDATE: https://www.winespectator.com/articles/unbreakable-to-table-tituss-pinot-noir-debuts-52863
Photo: winespectator.com
In my job, I spend a lot of time with dictionaries. So wasn’t I surprised when today I saw that “Pinot” is the second most popular search term in the US on oxforddictionaries.com! It’s even trending!
Screenshot, Oxford Dictionaries, January 13, 2016
I find this is interesting. Why the sudden interest in Pinot in the States?
The only thing I can think of is that scene with the music video from the Netflix TV series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. And while I appreciate that this scene from an oddball Tina Fey–produced comedy may be sparking interest in wine, I fear that people may get the wrong idea, given that the song is actually an ode to a dark male appendage. That said, no press is bad press, right?
RELATED UPDATE: https://www.winespectator.com/articles/unbreakable-to-table-tituss-pinot-noir-debuts-52863
Photo: winespectator.com
But is that really it? Is that really why Pinot is the 5th most popular Oxford Dictionary search IN THE WORLD right now??
Pinot is the 5th most popular search term in the world on January 13, 2016. WHY I ask you?? Also, interesting to note that the abbreviation for the province of Quebec is the most searched term in the world today.
In an effort to distract myself from these questions, here are some of the wine regions around the world specializing in pinot noir. Note that this list is by no means exhaustive:
Bourgogne (France) – the original pinot noir – a medium-bodied wine tasting of cherry, fresh red fruit, mushroom and mineral (from the limestone soil in which the grape is grown). It is lower in tannin than most wines since it spends less time on oak, and has high acidity. Its colour is more garnet than ruby red. I like the Albert Bichot.
California – Cali’s pinots tend to be bigger than the average pinot, due to a longer growing season in this warmer climate. I personally enjoy the Robert Mondavi.
Oregon – Oregon pinots are making quite a name for themselves and gaining in popularity on the world market. Their characteristics are much more subtle than their Cali counterparts and make for a refined quaff. As a result, they tend to be on the pricier side (starting at $22). I tried the Duck Pond pinot when I was in DC and quite enjoyed it.
New Zealand – These cold-climate pinots are medium bodied, with yummy fruit and earthiness. They are often grown in the same regions as sauvignon blanc. Try the Kim Crawford.
Pinot noir’s typically high acidity, paired with its lighter body, makes it a perfect food wine. Someone once said it’s the black jeans of wine—it just goes with everything!
On that note, I’m off to have a glass of Pinot Noir to ponder this some more. Leave a comment if you have any other ideas as to why Pinot might be getting so much attention these days…
Bubbly season is fast approaching! It’s the ideal time to review the different types of sparkling wine so you can pick the perfect bubbly for any occasion, from champagne to Baby Duck (but if you’re over the age of 20 and still drinking Baby Duck, you’re making poor life choices).
CHAMPAGNE
You can’t talk about sparkling wine without mentioning the world’s first: champagne. Don’t forget: only sparkling wine from the region of Champagne is allowed to actually carry that name on the label. Otherwise, it’s just sparkling wine.
Source: Wine Folly
So let’s set up the baseline for comparison here:
Grapes: Pinot noir, pinot meunier, chardonnay
Winemaking: First fermentation in vats, second fermentation in bottle – this is called the méthode champenoise, and was developed by monks in Champagne. It tends to make very light, long-lasting, delicate bubbles that dance on your tongue.
Characteristic flavour components: Toast, citrus, almond. Champagne tends to have prominent yeast or toast flavours from sitting on its lees (dead yeast cells – I know it sounds gross, but trust me it makes for some delicious bubbly) during the secondary fermentation in the bottle.
This sparkler is Spain’s response to champagne. It uses the same champenoise method, but uses local grapes instead. So if you like the bubbles in champagne, cava is an excellent and less expensive option. It comes from the Cava DOs (Denominación de Origen) in Spain, which are concentrated in the country’s northeast.
Grapes: Variety of local grapes such as viura, xarel.lo, and parellada
Winemaking: Champenoise, though outside of Champagne it is called the “traditional method”
Characteristic flavour components: Lime, yellow apple, white flower
Hint: This is what I buy when I want to serve champagne, but can’t justify spending over $50.
PROSECCO
The affordable Italian bubbly! This sparkler from the Veneto region in northeastern Italy is often slightly fruitier than champagne or cava, but also more affordable.
Grapes: Prosecco (the grape’s name was officially changed to “glera” in 2009 to protect the region’s name and avoid confusion).
Winemaking: Charmat method (aka cuve close): primary fermentation in a large vat, secondary fermentation in a pressurized tank. This method produces more wine, faster; therefore, the wines it yields tend to be less expensive.
Characteristic flavour components: Green apple, pear, white flower
Hint: Easy drinking for any occasion. Pairs really nicely with prosciutto-wrapped melon.
OTHER ALTERNATIVES
Franciacorta – the Italian sparkling wine made in the northern province of Lombardy using the champenoise method. Not easy to find in Ontario (only two types are currently available at the LCBO). Prices range from $30-$80.
Lambrusco – charmat-method Italian red sparkling wine (fabulous with pizza!).
Crémant – this term describes a sparkling wine made using the champenoise method in France but outside the Champagne region. You can get Crémant d’Alsace, Crémant de Loire, Crémant de Bourgogne, etc. Each region has its own rules regarding what percentage of various grape varieties is allowed. These are found in the $18-$25 range, usually in the Vintages section.
Sparkling wine – France, Spain and Italy aren’t the only ones making bubbly. Winemakers from all over the world, including right here in Ontario, are producing sparkling wines. They usually use the charmat method, but a select few use the labour‑intensive traditional method. These ones are definitely worth seeking out.
If you like sweeter wines, go for a Moscato d’Asti or Spumante Bambino (but I will judge you).
The Sweetness Scale
Speaking of sweetness, in the world of champagnes, “sec” doesn’t actually mean dry like it does for regular wines. If you want a dry style, look for the world “brut” on your bottle of sparkling. “Sec” or “demi-sec” will be sweeter, and “doux” will be very sweet.
Remember, you really don’t need a special occasion to drink bubbly. It’s not just for New Years anymore! You can open up a bottle just to celebrate those minor victories, like making it through a work day without killing someone, or finally getting around to changing that lightbulb that was out for 4 months.
Warning – In the following blog post, my two favourite subjects meet: wine and translation. Oh, and it’s in French. I encourage you to brush up on your French and give it a read, scroll through the pictures, and see how much you pick up on. And for those of you whose French is non-existent, I’ll put a short summary at the end. Bonne lecture!Continue reading
Recent Comments